Emergence of global communication networks such as the Internet and major cellular networks has precipitated interaction between users and other network entities. Today, cellular and IP networks are a principal form of communications, and a central medium for interacting with other users for a variety of purposes. Network users now have mechanisms for searching and communicating (or socializing) on virtually any topic of interest.
One such network entity that provides social interaction around common subjects is a social network. In general, social network theory focuses on the relationships and links between individuals or groups of individuals within the network, rather than attributes of individuals or entities. A social network typically consists of links between individuals through which social information/opportunities are exchanged, and personal relationships developed. Such direct, personal relationship implies that two people “know” each other and typically have a certain amount of trust for each other.
For example, a person may be searching for a job and contact friends to determine if they are aware of available positions. Such friends are able to provide reliable information about positions that they know about. Additionally, such friends can recommend their job-seeking friend for available positions, assuming they consider the job-seeking friend to be qualified, reliable, hard working and the like. Furthermore, these direct personal relationships can be employed to obtain social information and/or opportunities, such as for example information about possible romantic partners, movies, restaurants, buying or selling merchandise, recommendations for leisure or professional activities, romance and the like.
Moreover, direct personal relationships can further facilitate obtaining accurate information and opportunities because of the associated reliability of information and individuals being involved. For example, an individual typically is more often willing to swap a vacation home with a friend of a friend—even though the individual may not personally know the friend of a friend—than to house swap with a stranger. A basis for such trust is that the immediate friend can be trusted to offer an honest assessment of the trustworthiness of the third party. Accordingly, social networks can often be relied upon for opinion based information, such as to obtain opinions about activities performed by other users. Such information within a large number of the general populous is typically more relied on, as compared to opinion of an individual expert such as a famous restaurant and movie critic.
Social networks are often difficult to readily employ due to time constraints, wherein it can be time consuming for an individual to contact every person they have a relationship with when searching for information. Moreover, even if individuals can make the searching task easier for themselves, e.g. by creating a massive mailing list of their friends, addressing everyone in that list for each question is highly antisocial and certainly unsustainable as a collective behavior. In general, social networks and the encompassing direct personal relationships include a tremendous amount of latent information and opportunities.